1999 ← Republican Party chairmanship election, 2009 → 2011
January 20, 2009

Fmr. L.G. of Maryland
Michael Steele

S. Carolina GOP Chair
Katon Dawson

Michigan GOP Chair
Saul Anuzis

Fmr. Ohio Sec'y of State
Ken Blackwell

Incumbent RNC Chair
Mike Duncan

Timeline

• January 29, 2009 – Chip Saltsman withdraws from the race amidst controversy surrounding racially-political satire^[1]
• January 20, 2009 – Election held by party voting members in Washington, D.C.

Balloting

• First ballot: Duncan wins plurality; 52
• Second ballot: Duncan and Steele tie for lead; 48–48
• Third ballot: Steele wins plurality; 51; Duncan withdraws
• Fourth ballot: Dawson wins plurality; 62; Blackwell withdraws
• Fifth ballot: Steele wins plurality; 79; Anuzis withdraws
• Sixth ballot: Steele wins majority over Dawson; 91–77

Results

• Chairman before election: Mike Duncan (Kentucky)
• Chairman after election: Michael Steele (Maryland)

The 2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election started out as a six-way race, and ended on the sixth ballot with Michael Steele becoming the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee.^[2] The Washington Times called it the "'Dirtiest ever' race for RNC chairman."^[3]

Pre-campaign[link]

This section requires expansion.

On November 11, 2008, Jeff Burton launched a political draft website to encourage Steele to run for Republican National Committee Chairman.^[4] The website allowed visitors to sign a draft petition, and received over 6,000 signatures.^[5]

Campaign[link]

This section requires expansion.

Katon Dawson announced his official bid on November 24, 2008.^[6] Dawson was one of two candidates to earn votes on each of the six votes taken; he lost the final ballot to winner Michael Steele, 91-77.^[7]

On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his own campaign website,^[8] and confirmed his intention to run on Hannity and Colmes.^[9] Steele, seen as an early frontrunner,^[10] rejected the idea that the color of his skin had anything to do with his chances at becoming RNC chair, saying, "I am a Republican who happens to be African-American."^[11]

Chip Saltsman was the first candidate to release a specific plan regarding the future of the party, which can be viewed at Our Plan for Republican Victory.^[12] In his bid for the RNC Chairmanship, Saltsman has been endorsed by: former Republican presidential candidate Governor Mike Huckabee,^[13] former United States Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, and Tennessee House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower.^[14]

USA Today reported that, "half of the candidates to lead the Republican National Committee (RNC) are Southerners: current Chairman Mike Duncan of Kentucky, South Carolina Chairman Katon Dawson and former Tennessee chairman Chip Saltsman. Former Ohio secretary of State Ken Blackwell and former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele are black. Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP chairman, is a Harley-Davidson rider, an ex-union member and the son of an autoworker.^[15]

"Barack the Magic Negro" controversy[link]

For Christmas 2008, Chip Saltsman sent members of the Republican National Committee a music CD of songs intended to be political satire. The CD of 41 songs included one entitled "David Ehrenstein's 'Barack the Magic Negro' " set to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon". Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column, written by Ehrenstein, who is partly of African-American descent,^[16] that suggested President Barack Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans.^[17] Saltsman said the song, penned by his longtime friend Paul Shanklin, a white conservative parodist songwriter, who performs it using his impersonation of Al Sharpton, "should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times."^[18]

Some opposing candidates, including incumbent RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, criticized Saltsman; others, such as former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, defended Saltsman against the "hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race."^[19]

Saltsman responded by saying, "Liberal Democrats and their allies in the media didn't utter a word about David Ehrenstein's irresponsible column in the Los Angeles Times last March. But now, of course, they're shocked and appalled by its parody on the Rush Limbaugh Show. I firmly believe that we must welcome all Americans into our party and that the road to Republican resurgence begins with unity, not division. But I know that our party leaders should stand up against the media's double standards and refuse to pander to their desire for scandal."^[20]

Some conservatives not currently seeking the RNC chairmanship, such as Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and North Carolina Republican National Committeewoman Ada Fisher, have also criticized with regards to the issue. Gingrich stated in an e-mail message: "There are no grounds for demeaning him (Obama) or for using racist descriptions."^[21]

Voting[link]

The election was decided in late January after six rounds of voting, with Steele elected chairman by a majority vote of the 168 committee members.^[10][22][23]

     Candidate won that round of voting

     Candidate withdrew

     Candidate won RNC Chairmanship

After the third round of balloting Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate.^[24] Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative." Steele picked up Blackwell's votes.^[25] After the fifth round, Steele held a ten vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.^[26]

The sixth round[link]

The final push that led to Steele's win was from the eight voters from the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands, who switched to Steele after Anuzis dropped out.^[27] Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.^[28]

References[link]

v t e Republican Party Chairpersons of the RNC Morgan Raymond Ward Claflin Morgan Chandler Cameron Jewell Sabin Jones Quay Clarkson Carter Hanna Payne Cortelyou New Hitchcock Hill Rosewater Hilles Wilcox Hays Adams Butler Work Huston Fess Sanders Fletcher Hamilton Martin Walsh Spangler Brownell Reece Scott Gabrielson Summerfield Roberts Hall Alcorn T. B. Morton Miller Burch Bliss R. Morton Dole Bush Smith Brock Richards Fahrenkopf Atwater Yeutter Bond Barbour Nicholson Gilmore Racicot Gillespie Mehlman Martinez Duncan Steele Priebus Presidential tickets Frémont/Dayton Lincoln/Hamlin Lincoln/Johnson Grant/Colfax Grant/Wilson Hayes/Wheeler Garfield/Arthur Blaine/Logan Harrison/Morton Harrison/Reid McKinley/Hobart McKinley/Roosevelt Roosevelt/Fairbanks Taft/Sherman Taft/Sherman/Butler Hughes/Fairbanks Harding/Coolidge Coolidge/Dawes Hoover/Curtis (twice) Landon/Knox Willkie/McNary Dewey/Bricker Dewey/Warren Eisenhower/Nixon (twice) Nixon/Lodge Goldwater/Miller Nixon/Agnew (twice) Ford/Dole Reagan/G. H. W. Bush (twice) G. H. W. Bush/Quayle (twice) Dole/Kemp G. W. Bush/Cheney (twice) McCain/Palin Romney/TBD (presumptive) Parties by state and territory State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Territory District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Conventions (List) 1856 (Philadelphia) 1860 (Chicago) 1864 (Baltimore) 1868 (Chicago) 1872 (Philadelphia) 1876 (Cincinnati) 1880 (Chicago) 1884 (Chicago) 1888 (Chicago) 1892 (Minneapolis) 1896 (Saint Louis) 1900 (Philadelphia) 1904 (Chicago) 1908 (Chicago) 1912 (Chicago) 1916 (Chicago) 1920 (Chicago) 1924 (Cleveland) 1928 (Kansas City) 1932 (Chicago) 1936 (Cleveland) 1940 (Philadelphia) 1944 (Chicago) 1948 (Philadelphia) 1952 (Chicago) 1956 (San Francisco) 1960 (Chicago) 1964 (San Francisco) 1968 (Miami Beach) 1972 (Miami Beach) 1976 (Kansas City) 1980 (Detroit) 1984 (Dallas) 1988 (New Orleans) 1992 (Houston) 1996 (San Diego) 2000 (Philadelphia) 2004 (New York) 2008 (St. Paul) 2012 (Tampa) Affiliated organizations College Republicans Congressional Hispanic Conference International Democrat Union Log Cabin Republicans National Republican Congressional Committee National Republican Senatorial Committee Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives Republican Conference of the United States Senate Republican Governors Association Republican Jewish Coalition Republican Liberty Caucus Republican Main Street Partnership Republican Majority for Choice Republican National Coalition for Life Republican National Hispanic Assembly Republican Study Committee Republicans Abroad Republicans for Environmental Protection The Ripon Society Teenage Republicans The Wish List Young Republicans Related articles History 2009 chairmanship election 2011 chairmanship election Bibliography Timeline of modern American conservatism Conservatism Portal

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. Similar committees exist in every U.S. state and most U.S. counties, although in some states party organization is structured by congressional district, allied campaign organizations being governed by a national committee. Reince Priebus is the current RNC Chairman.

The RNC's main counterpart is the Democratic National Committee.

History[link]

The 1856 Republican National Convention appointed the first RNC. It consisted of one member from each state and territory to serve for four years. Each national convention since then has followed the precedent of equal representation for each state or territory, regardless of population. From 1924 to 1952, there was a national committeeman and national committeewoman from each state and U.S. possession, and from Washington, D.C.. In 1952, committee membership was expanded to include the state party chairs of states that voted Republican in the preceding presidential election, have a Republican majority in their congressional delegation (U.S. representatives and senators), or have Republican governors. By 1968, membership reached 145. As of 2011, the RNC has 168 members.^[1]

The only person to have chaired the RNC and later become U.S. president is George H.W. Bush. A number of the chairs of the RNC have been state governors.

Chairmen of the Republican National Committee[link]

Chairman elections[link]

1993 RNC Chairman election[link]

     Candidate won majority of votes in the round

     Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

     Candidate withdrew

1997 RNC Chairman election[link]

     Candidate won majority of votes in the round

     Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

     Candidate withdrew

• Merrill and Norcross both dropped out after the fifth round, giving the chairmanship to Nicholson by acclamation.

2009 RNC Chairman election[link]

On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website.^[4] On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.^[5]

Source: CQPolitics,^[6] and Poll Pundit.^[7]

     Candidate won majority of votes in the round

     Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

     Candidate withdrew

On announcing his candidacy to succeed RNC Chairman Duncan, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele described the party as being at a crossroads and not knowing what to do. "I think I may have some keys to open the door, some juice to turn on the lights," he said.^[8]

Six men ran for the 2009 RNC Chairmanship: Steele, Ken Blackwell, Mike Duncan, Saul Anuzis, Katon Dawson and Chip Saltsman. After Saltsman's withdrawal, there were only five candidates during the hotly-contested balloting January 30, 2009.

After the third round of balloting that day, Steele held a small lead over incumbent Mike Duncan of Kentucky, with 51 votes to Duncan's 44. Shortly after the announcement of the standings, Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate.^[9] Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative." Steele picked up Blackwell's votes.^[10] After the fifth round, Steele held a ten vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.^[11] After the sixth vote, he won the chairmanship of the RNC over Dawson by a vote of 91 to 77.^[12]

Mississippi Governor and former RNC chair Haley Barbour has suggested the party will focus its efforts on congressional and gubernatorial elections in the coming years rather than the next presidential election. "When I was chairman of the Republican National Committee the last time we lost the White House in 1992 we focused exclusively on 1993 and 1994. And at the end of that time, we had both houses of Congress with Republican majorities, and we’d gone from 17 Republican governors to 31. So anyone talking about 2012 today doesn’t have their eye on the ball. What we ought to worry about is rebuilding our party over the next year and particularly in 2010,” Barbour said at the November 2008 Republican Governors conference.^[13]

2011 RNC Chairman election[link]

Michael Steele ran for re-election at the 2011 RNC winter meeting.^[14] Other candidates were Reince Priebus, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman, Ann Wagner, former Ambassador to Luxembourg, Saul Anuzis, former Republican Party Chairman of Michigan, and Maria Cino, former acting Secretary of Transportation under George W. Bush. Steele's critics increasingly called on him to step down as RNC Chair when his term ended in 2011. A debate for Chairman hosted by Americans for Tax Reform took place on January 3 at the National Press Club. ^[15][16] The election for Chairman took place January 14 at the RNC's winter meeting with Reince Priebus winning on the seventh ballot after Steele and Wagner withdrew.

     Candidate won majority of votes in the round

     Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

     Candidate withdrew

Leadership and staff[link]

Sharon Day is the current RNC Co-Chairman. ^[17] Mary Heitman is the current Finance Director.^[18] Angela Sailor is the current Director of Coalitions. ^[19] The communications staff is led by communications director Sean Spicer, press secretary Kirsten Kukowski and deputy communications director Tyler Brown, and added two new regional press secretaries and a new specialty media press secretary in mid-2011.^[20]

See also[link]

	United States portal
	Conservatism portal
	Politics portal

• Republican Party (United States)
• Republican National Committee members
• Microtargeting
• Rob Bickhart
• Republican Party presidential debates, 2012
• Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Republican National Committee: News clippings and publications, 1932-65, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

v t e Republican Party Chairpersons of the RNC Morgan Raymond Ward Claflin Morgan Chandler Cameron Jewell Sabin Jones Quay Clarkson Carter Hanna Payne Cortelyou New Hitchcock Hill Rosewater Hilles Wilcox Hays Adams Butler Work Huston Fess Sanders Fletcher Hamilton Martin Walsh Spangler Brownell Reece Scott Gabrielson Summerfield Roberts Hall Alcorn T. B. Morton Miller Burch Bliss R. Morton Dole Bush Smith Brock Richards Fahrenkopf Atwater Yeutter Bond Barbour Nicholson Gilmore Racicot Gillespie Mehlman Martinez Duncan Steele Priebus Presidential tickets Frémont/Dayton Lincoln/Hamlin Lincoln/Johnson Grant/Colfax Grant/Wilson Hayes/Wheeler Garfield/Arthur Blaine/Logan Harrison/Morton Harrison/Reid McKinley/Hobart McKinley/Roosevelt Roosevelt/Fairbanks Taft/Sherman Taft/Sherman/Butler Hughes/Fairbanks Harding/Coolidge Coolidge/Dawes Hoover/Curtis (twice) Landon/Knox Willkie/McNary Dewey/Bricker Dewey/Warren Eisenhower/Nixon (twice) Nixon/Lodge Goldwater/Miller Nixon/Agnew (twice) Ford/Dole Reagan/G. H. W. Bush (twice) G. H. W. Bush/Quayle (twice) Dole/Kemp G. W. Bush/Cheney (twice) McCain/Palin Romney/TBD (presumptive) Parties by state and territory State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Territory District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Conventions (List) 1856 (Philadelphia) 1860 (Chicago) 1864 (Baltimore) 1868 (Chicago) 1872 (Philadelphia) 1876 (Cincinnati) 1880 (Chicago) 1884 (Chicago) 1888 (Chicago) 1892 (Minneapolis) 1896 (Saint Louis) 1900 (Philadelphia) 1904 (Chicago) 1908 (Chicago) 1912 (Chicago) 1916 (Chicago) 1920 (Chicago) 1924 (Cleveland) 1928 (Kansas City) 1932 (Chicago) 1936 (Cleveland) 1940 (Philadelphia) 1944 (Chicago) 1948 (Philadelphia) 1952 (Chicago) 1956 (San Francisco) 1960 (Chicago) 1964 (San Francisco) 1968 (Miami Beach) 1972 (Miami Beach) 1976 (Kansas City) 1980 (Detroit) 1984 (Dallas) 1988 (New Orleans) 1992 (Houston) 1996 (San Diego) 2000 (Philadelphia) 2004 (New York) 2008 (St. Paul) 2012 (Tampa) Affiliated organizations College Republicans Congressional Hispanic Conference International Democrat Union Log Cabin Republicans National Republican Congressional Committee National Republican Senatorial Committee Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives Republican Conference of the United States Senate Republican Governors Association Republican Jewish Coalition Republican Liberty Caucus Republican Main Street Partnership Republican Majority for Choice Republican National Coalition for Life Republican National Hispanic Assembly Republican Study Committee Republicans Abroad Republicans for Environmental Protection The Ripon Society Teenage Republicans The Wish List Young Republicans Related articles History 2009 chairmanship election 2011 chairmanship election Bibliography Timeline of modern American conservatism Conservatism Portal

Look up republican in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Republican can refer to:

• An advocate of a republic, a form of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is generally associated with the rule of law
  • Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or against monarchy; the opposite of monarchism
    • Republicanism in Australia
    • Republicanism in Canada
    • Republicanism in New Zealand
    • Republicanism in the United Kingdom
  • Classical republicanism, republicanism as formulated in the Renaissance
• A member of a Republican Party:
  • List of Republican Parties, a complete listing
  • Republican Party (United States), a conservative party in the U.S.
  • Fianna Fáil, a centrist Irish party also known as the Republican Party
  • List of Republican People's Parties, a complete listing
• Institutions or supporters of particular governments that called themselves republics, including:
  • List of republics, a complete listing
  • Roman Republic, as well as supporters of the Republic during the Roman Empire
  • Second Spanish Republic, during the Spanish Civil War, as well as its supporters
  • Various French Republics, most notably the First Republic established during the French Revolution and the Second Republic, the first post-Revolution republic in France.
  • Irish republicanism, a faction in the Irish independence movement supportive of a complete break with the United Kingdom
• Republican City, Nebraska, a village in Nebraska, United States
• Republican River, a river in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas in the United States
• The Republican (Springfield), a newspaper published in Springfield, Massachusetts
• The Woodville Republican, a weekly newspaper published in Woodville, Mississippi

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up national in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

National may refer to:

• Nation or country
  • Nationality
  • A citizen or subject of a country; by inference, frequently a person who owes loyalty to a country but lacks full membership in it, a non-citizen resident
  • National (distribution), a type of product or publication this is distributed across an entire nation, e.g., a national magazine
• Vending machines made by the large manufacturer Crane Co.
• National (brand), the Japanese brand under which Matsushita products are sold (elsewhere they are sold under the Panasonic brand)
• National (Gymanfa Ganu), a Welsh festival in Wales, England and North America

Companies and organizations[link]

• National Airlines
• National Assembly
• National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE)
• National Comics, an early name for the comic book publisher known later as DC Comics
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC), a television network
• National Development Front, a Muslim organisation in Kerala, India
• National Benzole, a British petroleum brand
• National Bus Company in Australia
• National Car Rental
• National (brand) a brand name of electronic goods from Panasonic
• National College of Natural Medicine, a medical school in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
• National Geographic Society
• National High School, in West Bengal India
• National Hockey League, U.S. ice hockey organization
• National Motor Vehicle Company, 1900–1924 U.S. automobile company
• National Party, several unrelated political parties around the world
• National Radio Company
• National Semiconductor, an American semiconductor manufacturer
• National Supermarkets
• National String Instrument Corporation, a company formed in the 1920s to manufacture the first resonator guitars
• National Reso-Phonic Guitars, a company formed in the 1980s to manufacture resonator guitars and the current owners of the National brand in the U.S.
• National Records, a record label
• Championnat National (also known as National), French football league competition
• Washington Nationals, professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., U.S.
• TIL National, Norwegian sports club
• SK Nationalkameratene, Norwegian sports club

Other[link]

See also[link]

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

A ballot box

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.^[1] Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century.^[1] Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.

The universal use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens. As the Elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot.

Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results).

To elect means "to choose or make a decision"^[2] and so sometimes other forms of ballot such as referendums are referred to as elections, especially in the United States.

History[link]

Roman coin depicting election

Elections were used as early in history as ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and throughout the Medieval period to select rulers such as the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope.^[1] In ancient India, around 920 AD, in Tamil Nadu, Palm leaves were used for village assembly elections. The palm leaves with candidate names, will be put inside a mud pot, for counting. This was called Kudavolai system.^[3][4][5] Elections were also used to select rajas by the gana. Ancient Arabs also used election to choose their caliph, Uthman and Ali, in the early medieval Rashidun Caliphate;^[6] and to select the Pala king Gopala in early medieval Bengal.^[7] The modern "election", which consists of public elections of government officials, didn't emerge until the beginning of the 17th century when the idea of representative government took hold in North America and Europe.^[1]

Questions of suffrage, especially suffrage for minority groups, have dominated the history of elections. Males, the dominate cultural group in North America and Europe, often dominated the electorate and continue to do so in many countries.^[1] Early elections in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States were dominated by landed or ruling class males.^[1] However, by 1920 all Western European and North American democracies had universal male suffrage (except Switzerland) and many countries began to consider women's suffrage.^[1] Despite legally mandated universal suffrage for males, political barriers were sometimes erected to prevent fair access to elections (See Civil Rights movement).^[1]

Characteristics[link]

Suffrage[link]

The question of who may vote is a central issue in elections. The electorate does not generally include the entire population; for example, many countries prohibit those judged mentally incompetent from voting, and all jurisdictions require a minimum age for voting.

Historically, other groups of people have also been excluded from voting. For instance, the democracy of ancient Athens did not allow women, foreigners, or slaves to vote, and the original United States Constitution left the topic of suffrage to the states; usually only white male property owners were able to vote. Much of the history of elections involves the effort to promote suffrage for excluded groups. The women's suffrage movement gave women in many countries the right to vote, and securing the right to vote freely was a major goal of the American civil rights movement. Extending voting rights to excluded groups (such as convicted felons, members of certain minorities, and the economically disadvantaged) continues to be a goal of voting rights advocates.

Suffrage is typically only for citizens of the country, though further limits may be imposed. However, in the European Union, one can vote in municipal elections if one lives in the municipality and is an EU citizen; the nationality of the country of residence is not required.

Campaigners working on posters in Milan, Italy, 2004

In some countries, voting is required by law; if an eligible voter does not cast a vote, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as a small fine.

Nomination[link]

A representative democracy requires a procedure to govern nomination for political office. In many cases, nomination for office is mediated through preselection processes in organized political parties.^[8]

Non-partisan systems tend to differ from partisan systems as concerns nominations. In a direct democracy, one type of non-partisan democracy, any eligible person can be nominated. In some non-partisan representative systems no nominations (or campaigning, electioneering, etc.) take place at all, with voters free to choose any person at the time of voting—with some possible exceptions such as through a minimum age requirement—in the jurisdiction. In such cases, it is not required (or even possible) that the members of the electorate be familiar with all of the eligible persons, though such systems may involve indirect elections at larger geographic levels to ensure that some first-hand familiarity among potential electees can exist at these levels (i.e., among the elected delegates).

As far as partisan systems, in some countries, only members of a particular political party can be nominated. Or, an eligible person can be nominated through a petition; thus allowing him or her to be listed on a something.

Electoral systems[link]

Electoral systems are the detailed constitutional arrangements and voting systems that convert the vote into political decision. The first step is to tally the votes, for which various vote counting systems and ballot types are used. Voting systems then determine the result on the basis of the tally. Most systems can be categorized as either proportional or majoritarian. Among the former are party-list proportional representation and additional member system. Among the latter are First Past the Post (FPP) (relative majority) and absolute majority. Many countries have growing electoral reform movements, which advocate systems such as approval voting, single transferable vote, instant runoff voting or a Condorcet method; these methods are also gaining popularity for lesser elections in some countries where more important elections still use more traditional counting methods.

While openness and accountability are usually considered cornerstones of a democratic system, the act of casting a vote and the content of a voter's ballot are usually an important exception. The secret ballot is a relatively modern development, but it is now considered crucial in most free and fair elections, as it limits the effectiveness of intimidation.

Scheduling[link]

The nature of democracy is that elected officials are accountable to the people, and they must return to the voters at prescribed intervals to seek their mandate to continue in office. For that reason most democratic constitutions provide that elections are held at fixed regular intervals. In the United States, elections are held between every three and six years in most states, with exceptions such as the U.S. House of Representatives, which stands for election every two years. There is a variety of schedules, for example presidents: the President of Ireland is elected every seven years, the President of Russia and the President of Finland every six years, the President of France every five years, President of United States every four years.

Pre-determined or fixed election dates have the advantage of fairness and predictability. However, they tend to greatly lengthen campaigns, and make dissolving the legislature (parliamentary system) more problematic if the date should happen to fall at time when dissolution is inconvenient (e.g. when war breaks out). Other states (e.g., the United Kingdom) only set maximum time in office, and the executive decides exactly when within that limit it will actually go to the polls. In practice, this means the government remains in power for close to its full term, and choose an election date it calculates to be in its best interests (unless something special happens, such as a motion of no-confidence). This calculation depends on a number of variables, such as its performance in opinion polls and the size of its majority.

Elections are usually held on one day. There are also advance polls and absentee voting, which have a more flexible schedule. In Europe, a substantial proportion of votes are cast in advance voting.

Election campaigns[link]

When elections are called, politicians and their supporters attempt to influence policy by competing directly for the votes of constituents in what are called campaigns. Supporters for a campaign can be either formally organized or loosely affiliated, and frequently utilize campaign advertising. It is common for political scientists to attempt to predict elections via Political Forecasting methods.

Difficulties with elections[link]

In many countries with weak rule of law, the most common reason why elections do not meet international standards of being "free and fair" is interference from the incumbent government. Dictators may use the powers of the executive (police, martial law, censorship, physical implementation of the election mechanism, etc.) to remain in power despite popular opinion in favor of removal. Members of a particular faction in a legislature may use the power of the majority or supermajority (passing criminal laws, defining the electoral mechanisms including eligibility and district boundaries) to prevent the balance of power in the body from shifting to a rival faction due to an election.

Non-governmental entities can also interfere with elections, through physical force, verbal intimidation, or fraud, which can result in improper casting or counting of votes. Monitoring for and minimizing electoral fraud is also an ongoing task in countries with strong traditions of free and fair elections. Problems that prevent an election from being "free and fair" take various forms:

Lack of open political debate or an informed electorate

The electorate may be poorly informed about issues or candidates due to lack of freedom of the press, lack of objectivity in the press due to state or corporate control, or lack of access to news and political media. Freedom of speech may be curtailed by the state, favoring certain viewpoints or state propaganda.

Unfair rules

This can include Gerrymandering, exclusion of opposition candidates from eligibility for office, and manipulating thresholds for electoral success are some of the ways the structure of an election can be changed to favor a specific faction or candidate.

Interference with campaigns

Those in power may arrest or assassinate candidates, suppress or even criminalize campaigning, close campaign headquarters, harass or beat campaign workers, or intimidate voters with violence.

Tampering with the election mechanism

This can include confusing or misleading voters about how to vote, violation of the secret ballot, ballot stuffing, tampering with voting machines, destruction of legitimately cast ballots, voter suppression, voter registration fraud, failure to validate voter residency, fraudulent tabulation of results, and use of physical force or verbal intimation at polling places.

See also[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Arrow, Kenneth J. 1963. Social Choice and Individual Values. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
• Benoit, Jean-Pierre and Lewis A. Kornhauser. 1994. "Social Choice in a Representative Democracy." American Political Science Review 88.1: 185-192.
• Corrado Maria, Daclon. 2004. US elections and war on terrorism – Interview with professor Massimo Teodori Analisi Difesa, n. 50
• Farquharson, Robin. 1969. A Theory of Voting. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
• Mueller, Dennis C. 1996. Constitutional Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Owen, Bernard, 2002. "Le système électoral et son effet sur la représentation parlementaire des partis: le cas européen.", LGDJ;
• Riker, William. 1980. Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation Between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
• Ware, Alan. 1987. Citizens, Parties and the State. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

External links[link]

Look up election in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• PARLINE database on national parliaments. Results for all parliamentary elections since 1966
• ElectionGuide.org — Worldwide Coverage of National-level Elections
• parties-and-elections.de: Database for all European elections since 1945
• ACE Electoral Knowledge Network — electoral encyclopedia and related resources from a consortium of electoral agencies and organizations.
• Angus Reid Global Monitor: Election Tracker
• IDEA's Table of Electoral Systems Worldwide
• European Election Law Association (Eurela)
• List of Local Elected Offices in the United States